PARAMUS, N.J. – Martin Laird suspected that four straight birdies early in the round and no bogeys had put him in the lead Saturday at The Barclays. When he finally glanced at a leader board, it gave him quite a jolt.

And it had nothing to do with the size of his three-shot lead.

The board occasionally shows the projected FedEx Cup standings. Laird, who started these playoffs at No. 95 and was hopeful of reaching the second round, saw his name at No. 1.

“I didn’t think I’d come in here and move that much,” Laird said after his 6-under 65. “I caught a glimpse of the projected FedEx Cup and I got a little shock.”

It was a not-so-subtle reminder that winning goes a long way in these playoffs, and Laird put himself in a great spot. He was at 12-under 201, three shots clear of Dustin Johnson and Jason Day with one round left at Ridgewood Country Club.

A victory for the 27-year-old Scot would move him to No. 1, assuring him a spot in all four majors next year, and making him a serious contender for the $10 million FedEx Cup payoff.

Tiger Woods also has something at stake today, but it most likely won’t be a trophy. After missing only one fairway in each of the first two rounds, Woods hit his opening tee shot off the property and took triple bogey. He couldn’t get those three shots back and shot 72, putting him nine shots behind.

For Johnson, who has found nothing but hard luck in the majors this year, it will be his second straight tournament playing in the final group.

Johnson shot a 64 that gave him a chance to win.

Woods was in a tie for 28th, continuing his slide since he opened with a 65 to share the first-round lead.

The top 100 in the standings – Woods is at No. 112 – make it to the Deutsche Bank Championship. Woods likely will need something around par in the final round to get there.

U.S. AMATEUR: Stanford’s David Chung ousted defending U.S. Amateur champion Byeong-Hun An in the semifinals of the 110th championship in University Place, Wash.

Chung rallied from 3 down after nine holes to beat An 1 up with a par on the 485-yard 18th hole. Chung won five holes on the back nine and benefited from an unlucky break for An on the 18th, when his second shot tucked behind a grass mound in a greenside bunker.

An was trying to become the first back-to-back champ since Tiger Woods won three straight from 1994-96.

In the other semifinal, Oklahoma State’s Peter Uihlein won three holes in a five-hole stretch on the back nine to beat 18-year-old Patrick Cantlay 4 and 3.

Chung and Uihlein will play a 36-hole final today.

LPGA: Michelle Wie shot an even-par 72 to fall into a tie with Jiyai Shin at the Canadian Women’s Open in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Shin shot a 69 to erase the three-stroke lead Wie took into the third round. Both are at 10 under for the tournament.

CHAMPIONS: Bernhard Langer fired a 9-under 63 to take a one-shot lead over Nick Price after the second round of the Boeing Classic in Snoqualmie, Wash. Price (67) made four birdies on the front nine. He recorded his only bogey of the day at 17, but closed with an eagle at the par-5 18th to pull within a shot of Langer.